Roma

Greetings all,

Another 3 weeks have flown by, and believe me, they are flying. With them many adventures and many great experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. I have been Mountain bike riding in Austria, climbed up to the peak of Kampenwand and Spitzstein, been to the

Salzbergwerk in Berchtesgaden and sheared off my lovely locks of hair. With each one and in-between there are many stories that have been made. But in this blog I am going to focus on my host family's trip to Rome. The most phenomenal weekend.

 

It was Friday the 30th of October and their was excitement in the air. I got up at the crack of dawn, 5:30, made my tea, ate my breakfast and caught the bus to school as per usual. The day seemed to take forever, as all that was on my mind was in 12 hours I'll be in Rome, in 9 hours... in 7 hours... the final school bell sounded through the halls at last and Alina and I waited with anticipation for her parents to pick us up on the way to the airport.

 

As we flew over the Austrian Alps into Italy, there was for me a sense of extreme exhilaration. This was going to be the 5th country I've ever visited. Movies, TV shows and books all lay setting to this great city. You watch and see them your whole life, but to think I was actually going to be there was just amazing.

 

We arrived in Rome at around 8:00 pm and immediately went to catch a taxi to our apartment. The first thing we notice as we stepped out of the plane was the warmth. It was around a perfect 17 degrees. For a second time on my exchange I was glued to the windows, giant monuments and marble churches wizzed past. I was in in complete awe. "I'm in Rome!!!!" I kept thinking to myself.

 

One the first night their was a mix up with our rooms, but it all ended up well, as we found a place to stay with a roof Terrace. A roof terrace! Now I'm not sure if all you readers have played, or even heard of the video game "Assassin's Creed" but let me tell you, it looked exactly like it.  

 

The morning came in a flash and I was woken up to the smell of fresh Panini bought from a little shop just around the corner. It was delicious, with zingy salami, some traditional Italian prosciutto, fresh tangy tomatoes and the best mozzarella I have ever tasted. We set off out into the beautiful little winding cobble stone streets. Lining the thoroughfares were wonderful quaint shops ranging from Cafes, gelato stores and pizzerias, to general stores, butchers and delis. Clothes shops filled with exotic and trendy apparel were in plentiful supply. It was a shopaholics dream. Every turn was something of excitement, as you would never know what was waiting for you. You could literally turn a corner and there in front of you be a square with picturesque Restaurants, street performers and magnificent marble fountains to take your breath away.

We made our way through the bustling morning streets and finally arrived at the colossal Saint Peters Square.

Inside the Saint Peters Basilica was just dumbfounding. I know that in a previous blog I said that I would probably never be in a building more lavish than Schloss Herrchiemsee, but I think I just found the exception to that rule. This Church is the largest in the world, at 220 metres in length and 150 in width. 220 Metres!!! At its highest, the dome peaks at 132 metres high. These are all just numbers and you may have seen photos, but it is extremely hard to truly grasp the enormity of it until you are there looking up at it. To give you an idea, you could fit 2 soccer fields end to end and still have room for a basketball court.

Forum Romanum was a sight to behold, a vision into the ancient Rome of 2000 years ago. massive marble blocks strewn across the land like a giant toddlers playground. Pillars still stand to this day. It was amazing.

The Colosseum was just as you would imagine it to be, crazily insanely cool.

During this Trip to Rome, I have identified an item on my bucket list. Something I have do before I die. As you walk up the 551 stairs to the top of St. Peters Dome (One of the best views I've ever witnessed), you come to a point where you are on a path about 60 metres above the ground floor of the church. My life fulfilling dream is to get someone to drop a tic tac off the top level and catch it in my mouth (Or break my teeth trying). I'm looking for volunteers for this role so hit me up with your resume people.

Rome is an amazing place to explore and I could spend my whole life just wandering the streets, taking in the atmosphere, listening to the buskers, watching the spray paint artists on the sidewalk or the fire twirlers in the piazzas. I could spend forever just staring at the luscious pinky-orange sunset, or watching the colossal flocks of birds swarm overhead. Just listening to the vibrant dialect and meeting new people from all over the world.

I love Rome. I love its picturesque narrow streets and its colossal buildings. Its monumental ties with a past world through its rich history. I love witnessing the flocks of birds soaring through the twilight sky on their way south for the winter and the mopeds and old Fiat 500's that are to be seen everywhere. I love the mouth watering food and the quirky people. I love the sensational sunsets and how the city feels alive. I love Rome.

 

2 years ago I would never have thought that I would be in Europe experiencing all these wonderful adventures. And I hope again that I have no idea of the wonders that are to come in my life. This exchange has opened my eyes to so many new things and has helped me become a better version of myself. It is not over yet and I'm strapped in and ready for all the challenges, exploits and good times yet to come. Again, it has been an awesome 3 weeks,

Yours Sincerely,

Clyde

PS. My German is coming along quite nicely too!

PPS. Don't tell the Pope about my Tic Tac aspirations #ourlittlesecret

Almost died Free Solo rock climbing #donttelltheinsurancecompany

The hero Gotham deserves

My Favourite Ice cream place, and believe me, I sure did visit a lot.

Austria (Österreich) - Arrive and Revive

Servus!

What a busy three weeks it has been here in Germany!! Well not only Germany but Austria!  I have been to the lively city of Berlin, climbed up the rocky Wendelstein and my favourite, a week in the stunning mountain ranges of Austria. Every day of the past three weeks there has been something new and exciting that I have experienced.  

In Australia, you might want to think about buying a plane ticket to get to another country but here it’s completely different where all you have to do is drive ten minutes down the road and you’re in a whole new country. Last week we did just that as we crossed the Austrian border and drove up into the beautiful Austrian Alps. We drove for two hours through the jagged mountains seeing many old castles hidden among the trees up above. We drove through several tunnels that weaved through the mountains and came across endless lakes that glistened in the sunlight until we made it to the top of Mt Feuerberg and our ski resort, home for the next five days. The resort looks over the Alps and the many lakes down below.

When we walked into the lobby of our resort, I was surprised to see everyone, even little kids, walking around in bathrobes and even when we went to lunch we were the only ones without robes on.  The first thing we did was have lunch and we had a large banquet which had a mixture of Austrian, German and Italian foods.   After lunch we went to our chalet (which was like a small house) and we picked our rooms. The chalet had two storeys and from the second storey you could see out over the valley.

Once we were set up in the chalet, we went off to explore the resort. We went to the beautiful gardens at the front of the resort and enjoyed the magnificent view from sun lounges.  It was so relaxing, we almost fell asleep on them so we got up and continued to explore, finding five outdoor swimming pools that were spread across the resort. My favourite one was the Bergquell pool that was 35 °C and it had panoramic views of the valley and the massive mountains on the horizon. For the rest of the day we relaxed in the pools and took in the spectacular views.

Throughout the week I spent many hours in all the pools and playing soccer with Rebecca’s brothers.  We also climbed to the peak of the mountain, which was 1,911 metres high and enjoyed a 360-degree view of Austria. There was no snow which was a shame but there is always next time. ☺ Everyday Rebecca’s two brothers woke me up early and we went to either the stadium to play soccer or the gym.

On Wednesday we went to a small lake called the Felsenseen which was hidden away on the side of the mountain.  A little bit further up from the Felsenseen was an Asiatischer Garten (Asian Garden) which is a small rock garden designed by Johannes Matthiessen during the summer of the Olympic Games to commemorate the 2008 earthquake in China. On the way back to the resort we came across many little hunting huts which were scattered around the mountain.

On Thursday night we all went and sat around an open fire near the lobby of the resort and we met some new people who we found came from Bavaria. That night the whole family got together and watched Bayern Munich play and they ended up winning 5-1 so everyone was happy.

Friday was our last day in paradise and we all had one last swim in the Bergquell pool before we jumped in the car and headed back to Germany.  Our trip back home took an hour longer because every car was being checked for immigrants trying to cross the border illegally into Germany.  

I have seen, done and learnt so much in the last three weeks!  In particular, I have learnt that Austria is a country where their slogan is true because you certainly do ‘arrive and revive’.

Callan